The Polar Express
by liler91
Summary: When a young Oliver Oken questions the existence of Santa Claus, he climbs aboard the Polar Express. Sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can't see.


**a/n-ok, so this is a one-shot. and its kinda long, so sorry. but i really wanted to do an xmas fic. so this is about oliver and his journey on the polar express. enjoy! and happy christmahannukwanzicah! or in the words of seinfelf "happy festivus for the rest of us" PS-sorry if it sucks, its just 4 fun, but please dont be mad harsh on me.**

**disclaimer-i wish i opened the show, but i don't. i don't own the polar express either. i basically dont own any of this story except the ending. so, whatever. i can pretend i do.**

The Polar Express

"I can't believe you _still_ believe in Santa Claus," Amber mocked a young Oliver. He and some of his classmates were sledding on a big hill the elementary school had.

"You're just jealous 'cause you get coal for Christmas!" Oliver tried to defend himself.

"For your information, I got solid gold hoop earrings for Christmas last year. What'd you get, Amber?" Ashley asked her best friend.

"The same thing!" Amber replied.

"Yeah, well…Why is it so bad to believe in him?"

"Because it's so babyish!" the two girls said in unison. "Ooh, sss!" They touched their fingertips together.

"Well I'm not a baby!" Oliver insisted.

"You are if you believe in Santa." they walked away laughing.

"Fine, then I don't believe in him!" Oliver called after them. _Maybe it's time to stop believing in him. I'm in third grade. I must be the only third-grader in the world who still believes in Santa Claus._

Oliver went home that Christmas Eve feeling sad. From now on, he knew that Christmas would never be the same. Santa was all a big lie. How could he have ever believe that a man could go around the whole world in one night, fit down people's chimneys, and carry millions of presents in one red sack? When he'd questioned his parents before, they just replied with 'I don't know, Oliver, it's magic'. That's crap. There's no such thing as magic and there's no such thing as Santa, flying reindeer, or toy-making elves.

"Oliver, go to bed, or else Santa won't come." Oliver's mom told him.

"Yeah, right." Oliver mumbled, walking up the steps to his room. He slammed the door shut and got in bed. It took a while before he finally fell asleep, but as soon as he did he was awaken by a loud noise. No, it wasn't Santa's sleigh bells. Once you don't believe, the bells become silent. It sounded like a train.

"What the heck?" Oliver said to himself, getting out of bed as the whole room started rattling. He heard the sound again. Putting on his sneakers and his robe, he ran to the door. His robe got stuck on the bed post, so he pulled it off, not wanting to miss what the sound actually was. He ignored the hole in his pocket and ran, quickly but quietly, down the stairs and out the front door.

The sound he heard was in fact a train. "All aboard!" He slowly walked up to a man standing in front of the train. His hat said 'Conductor'. "Well, you coming?" the conductor asked.

"…Where?" Oliver asked. He knew he wasn't supposed to talk to strangers, but he noticed a bunch of kids already on the train having a great time. One girl in particular, he noticed, was smiling at him.

The conductor chuckled. "Why to the North Pole of course! This is the Polar Express!" he yelled, apparently not caring if he woke anyone up.

"The North Pole?"

The conductor pulled out a picture and asked "is this you?" It was indeed a picture of Oliver. "If I were you, I would think about climbing onboard." Oliver hesitated. "Come on, we've got a tight schedule to follow. Are you coming?"

Oliver said nothing, but shook his head. The conductor shrugged and got back on the train. It began pulling away, as Oliver changed his mind. He ran as fast as he could and managed to jump on the train. He opened the door with difficulty, meeting the conductor as soon as he got on.

He sat down in a seat across from the girl who had been smiling at him. She was staring at him, he noticed, and she wouldn't look away. All of a sudden, a random kid came up to Oliver and shouted in his face. "Hey! Hey you! Do you know what kind of train this is? Huh? Huh? Do ya?" he asked in an annoying voice.

"Uh…no," Oliver replied.

"Of course, it's a magic train," the girl replied softly. "We're going to the North Pole."

"I know that," said the annoying kid, whose name was Jackson. "I was just asking if he knew." Then he went off on all the specialties the train had.

The girl rolled her eyes. "I'm Lilly," she said, offering me her hand.

He shook it and said "Oliver." There was a silence between the two until Oliver spoke once more. "Are we really going to the North Pole?"

"Of course!" Lilly replied. "Isn't it exciting?"

"But-" Oliver was about to say something when the conductor interrupted him.

"Tickets! Tickets, please!" he shouted. "Young man, do you have your ticket?"

"N-no…" Oliver answered.

"Check your pocket." Oliver checked but only found the hole he had made. "Check your other pocket." Oliver did and sure enough he found a golden train ticket.

He handed it to the conductor who took it and hole punched a 'B' and an 'E' into it.

"B-E?" Oliver asked. The conductor only smiled and went to punch the know-it-all boy's ticket. He punched an 'L E' into his.

"What the heck does that mean?" the kid asked, eager to why the conductor was punching letters into tickets.

"You'll find out later." the conductor answered. The train slowly came to a stop as they stopped at another kid's house.

"Why to the North Pole of course! This is the Polar Express!" the conductor yelled at a little boy, whose name later turned out to be Jacob. "Are you coming?" Jacob shook his head, and the train started off without him. Just like Oliver, Jacob changed his mind and started running after the train.

"Hey, stop the train, the kid wants to get on!" Oliver announced, but the conductor didn't hear. "We need to stop the train!" Oliver said to Lilly and the know-it-all.

"The emergency brake!" suggested the know-it-all, who we'll call Eugene.

Without hesitation, Oliver pulled the brake and the train stopped abruptly. Jacob got on in the back car, where no one else was.

"Why'd you pull that? We are on a very tight schedule!" the conductor yelled.

"He was just trying to stop the train so that kid could get on!" Lilly defended Oliver.

"Is that true?" the conductor asked, and Oliver nodded. "Well then, start up the train again. I have never been late before and I don't intend on being late anytime soon! Now everyone sit down!" The kids all listened before he made another announcement. "Now, are there any passengers in need of refreshments?"

Everyone raised their hands and the conductor snapped his fingers. All of a sudden, two rows of waiters came through the doors with plates of hot chocolate. They danced around and sang around, filling each kid's cup. The hot chocolate seemed to be endless. The conductor even sang with the waiters.

"Hot, hot!" went the waiters.

"Ooh, we got it!" sang the conductor.

"Hot, hot!"

"Hey, we got it!"

"Hot, hot!"

"Say, we got it! Hot chocolate!"

In the middle of their song, Lilly had put her cup under her seat, and the waiter gave her another one.

"Hot, hot!"

"Oh, we got it!"

"Hot, hot!

"So, we got it!"

"Hot, hot!"

"Yo, we got it! Hot chocolate! Here we only got one rule! Never ever let it cool! Keep in cookin' in the pot! You've got, hot choc-o-lat!" The conductor and the waiters sang and danced over and over again. When everyone had their coco, the waiters stopped dancing, gathered up the plates, and went back through the doors.

Lilly picked up the coco from under the seat and started walking to the back car.

"Where are you going?" Oliver asked.

"I'm giving that kid some hot chocolate," Lilly answered simply.

"You're not supposed to leave your seat! It violates the train policy!" Jackson yelled.

"I think I'll be Ok." Lilly smirked a little.

"Are you sure?" Oliver asked.

Lilly turned around and nodded. "Yes, I'm sure" and with that left to give the

coco to Jake. It was then that Oliver noticed her ticket sitting on her seat.

"Oh no, she left her ticket here! And it hasn't been punched!" Oliver said to Jackson. He picked it up, smirked a little, and went to find Lilly. But when he walked past the door, Lilly's ticket got sucked out of his hand and out into the night. He tried to reach after it, but it just kept going. He watched in fear as _he_ lost Lilly's ticket. He slumped back into his seat, watching the scene unfold before him as Lilly was back in her seat.

"Terribly sorry, Miss, but I seem to have forgotten to punch your ticket. May I have it?"

Lilly looked around her seat, but found nothing. "I left it right here on the seat…But it's gone" she said worriedly.

"Are you trying to say you lost your ticket?" the conductor asked.

"She didn't lose it!" I spoke up. "I did! You left it on your seat so I was going to give it to you, but the wind blew it away. I'm sorry!" he apologized. Little did he know that the ticket actually got blown back into a vent on the train, and it was now visible from where he was sitting.

"Is that so?" went the conductor.

"Here, you can have my ticket," Oliver offered, but the conductor wouldn't hear of it.

"These tickets are one-of-a-kind, unique, and not transferable! You're going to have to come with me." he explained, leading Lilly the other way. She looked back at Oliver sadly and he gave her a very sympathetic look.

When they were gone, Jackson spoke up. "You know what's gonna happen right? They're gonna throw her off the train! Yeah he's probably gonna throw her right off the platform! It's standard procedure so she won't get sucked under the wheels! They might slow the train down but they're never gonna stop it!"

Oliver suddenly caught a glimpse of something gold out of the corner of his eye. Lilly's ticket! Miraculously it ended up in the heating vent. He took it out and held onto it tightly this time, following the way the conductor and Lilly went. He saw them in a distance as he climbed on top of the train, but they disappeared once the snow got too thick. Fearing that he'd get lost or fall off, Oliver kept walking straight. He soon approached a figure, singing and playing music softly.

It was a hobo. "Heya, kid!" the hobo said with a rough voice. "What brings you up here?"

"Uh…I'm looking for a girl." Oliver stated.

The hobo started cackling and coughing. "Ain't we all?"

"I need to give her this ticket." Oliver explained.

"Whoa! A ticket to ride! You better keep that in a safe place. I however ride for free. I own this train. I'm king of the Polar Express. Why, I'm king of the North Pole!" he yelled, confusing Oliver beyond belief.

"W-what about Santa? Isn't he the king of the North Pole?"

"You mean this guy?" the hobo put on a red hat and started 'Ho Ho Ho'-ing. "What exactly is your persuasion the big guy anyway, since ya brought it up?"

"Well, I want to believe…but…"

"You don't wanna be let down? You don't wanna get all your hopes up for nothin'? Seeing is believing, am I right?"

Oliver was silent for a second before talking again. "What about this train? We are really going to the North Pole aren't we?"

"Aren't we?" the hobo questioned Oliver right back.

"Are you saying this is all just…a dream?"

"You said it kid! Not me! Anyway, let's go find this girl! Oh, and one more thing! Do you believe in ghosts?"

"N-no…"

"Interesting…" the hobo said, walking ahead of the Oliver. He was so far ahead, and Oliver was going so slow in the snow, that he lost the hobo.

"Wake up, Oliver! Just wake up!" he yelled at himself. He pinched his arm as hard as he could, but he couldn't shake off the 'dream'. He was about to fall asleep into the snow when the hobo came back.

"No sleeping on the Polar Express!" he yelled, and put Oliver on top of his shoulders. They continued to move along the top of the train, but the hobo was now on skis. At one point where Oliver was supposed to jump, he accidentally jumped right into the front of the train. Surprisingly, he found Lilly operating the train.

"What are you doing? You're driving the train? But I thought you got thrown off!"

"They're checking the light bulb, so I'm in charge." she explained, pointing out the different things. Oliver pulled a cord and the whistle blew.

"I've wanted to do that my whole life!" he said happily. All of a sudden they heard shouts at them to stop the train because the men were about to fall off. "Where's the brake?"

"This one!" Lilly told him.

"Really? This one looks like a brake to me." He pointed to a red button rather than the white lever.

"No, no, he said this was the brake."

"Are you sure?" Oliver asked. Lilly didn't answer. "Are you sure?!" Lilly stayed silent, and just sat down, trying her hardest to think if she was sure. Oliver went for the button, but at the last second pulled the lever. The train stopped abruptly.

"Young man!" the conductor yelled at Oliver. "Are you determined to make sure this train never gets to the North Pole?"

"But look!" Lilly pointed out the window, where a whole herd of caribou stood in front of the train.

One of the crazy men who was fixing the light started speaking in caribou, and they made a path for the train to go ahead slow. As the train started picking up speed, Lilly was thrown off the train. The conductor caught her, but he fell also. Oliver caught him, but wasn't strong enough to pull them both up. Out of nowhere, he felt a hand pull on him. He looked back and it was the hobo, holding a finger to his lips, indicating Oliver to not say anything. The hobo pulled everyone up, winked at Oliver, and disappeared.

"Thank-you, young man!" the conductor said.

"I almost forgot, I found your ticket!" Oliver handed it to her.

"Thank you!" Lilly hugged him. She gave it to the conductor, who punched an 'L E' in it.

"You know, on my first run on this train I almost fell off, but I didn't."

"You mean someone saved you?" Lilly asked.

"Or something." The conductor said.

"Did you see it?" Oliver questioned.

"Sometimes seeing is believing. And sometimes, the most real things in the world are the things we can't see." he answered. With that, Oliver and Lilly went back inside the train. They heard a faint sound coming from the caboose, and went to check it out. Jacob was singing.

"I'm wishing on a star; I'm trying to believe. That even though it's far, he'll find me Christmas Eve. I guess that Santa's busy, 'cause he's never come around. I think of him, when Christmas comes to town."  
Then Lilly began singing, surprising both Oliver and Jacob "The best time of the year, when everyone comes home. With all this Christmas cheer, it's hard to be alone. Putting up the Christmas tree, with friends who come around. It's so much fun, when Christmas comes to town." she sang, as Oliver watched in amazement. "Presents for the children, wrapped in red and green!"

"All the things I've heard about, but never really seen," Jacob sang once more.

"No one will be sleeping on the night of Christmas Eve, hoping Santa's on his way!" they both sang.

"When Santa's sleigh bells ring," went Lilly.

"I listen all around."

"The Herald Angel's sing,"

"I never hear a sound."

"And all the dreams of children,"

"Once lost will all be found,"

"That's all I want, when Christmas comes to town." Lilly sang, and grabbed Jacob's hand.

"That's all I want, when Christmas comes to town." They finished the song together, and hugged.

_How do they know that song?_ Oliver thought, feeling jealousy towards Jacob. All of a sudden, the conductor made an announcement.

"We've arrived!" he yelled, and everyone but Jacob scurried off the train. The conductor made everyone get in two lines to go see Santa.

"What about Jacob?" Lilly asked.

"No one is required to see Santa," he explained. Lilly and Oliver looked at each other and went into the car with Jake in it. Lilly explained to Jacob all the wonderful things about Christmas, but he insisted that Christmas just never worked out for him. Oliver understood, but he was trying to believe.

All of a sudden, the car started going down a hill on its own, and Oliver noticed the hobo still on top. They were all screaming, but the hobo stopped the car. Lilly and Jake heard distant sleigh bells in a tunnel, but Oliver couldn't hear them. However, he followed Lilly as she led them over a dangerous bridge-type thing to the other side.

The boys continued following Lilly as they ended up in a little town, the bells getting closer. "It's down this way," Lilly told them.

"Are you sure?" Oliver asked.

Lilly confidently turned around and said, "Absolutely." So they followed her some more. They ended up inside a workshop with a bunch of elves watching naughty and nice kids on TV screens. He heard the elves talking about Malibu, California.

"That's my town!" Oliver told them excitedly.

"Hey, I'm moving there next week!" Lilly told him, equally as excited. They smiled at each other and the three waited for the elves to leave. They found a transportation thing that looked like a rocket in a tube, and got inside. It shot them through a tube and they ended at a place with arrows.

"Come on, let's follow the arrows," Oliver suggested, so they all did. They were actually on a conveyer belt that held presents, so they got off.

"This one's for Jacob Ryan, who lives at 107 Star Road, Denver Colorado." Lilly read off the tag.

"I'm Jacob Ryan, and that's my address!" Jacob yelled. He jumped on the present, knowing it was his, and he went through a door. Oliver and Lilly jumped on the belt after him and they ended up in a huge pile of presents.

"I think I know what it is!" Jacob said, about to open it.

"Wait!" Lilly stopped him, pointing to a tag that read 'Do not open until Christmas'.

"Those are the rules," said Oliver. Jacob sulked, but obeyed. All of a sudden, he was being pulled down by his foot into the pile. Lilly and Oliver pulled back, and Jackson came up out of the pile.

"What are you doing here?"

"Same as you! I came here to check out all my presents! But I only found one and all I got was stupid underwear!" Jackson complained. The three just rolled their eyes. Now, the bag they were in was in the air, and being lowered to the ground.

"What are you doing in here?" an elf asked when they opened the bag.

"We fell in here by accident!" Oliver told him. The elf let the kids slide down the huge bag and onto the ground, where the conductor greeted them, hardly mad. The elf took Jacob's present, but he knew he would get it later.

Everyone stood around as a sleigh and reindeer approached. But there were so many people that Oliver couldn't see Santa Claus. He also couldn't hear the sleigh bells that Lilly said were the most beautiful sound. This was making him very frustrated.

'Santa Claus is Coming to Town' began to play and Jacob and Lilly were waving to Santa, along with the other elves and kids. Oliver still could not see Santa, and was very upset about it. He noticed a small silver bell fall from the sleigh and roll to his feet. He picked it up and shook it next to his ear, but he heard nothing.

"I believe!" Oliver insisted. "I really believe! I believe!" he kept saying, and he finally heard the ringing of the bell. He then thought he saw Santa's reflection in the bell, and turned around to be face-to-face with Santa himself.

"What was that you said?" Santa asked.

"I believe," Oliver repeated. "I believe. I believe this is yours." he handed the bell to Santa, who thanked him.

"Santa! Pick me! I want the first gift of Christmas!" Jackson started screaming. Santa politely told him not to interrupt, and Jackson actually apologized. He told Lilly how she was a lady of decisions, and told Jacob there was no greater gift than friendship.

"Speaking of gifts…I want you to have the first one." Santa told Oliver, and everyone started clapping. Oliver was in disbelief, but sat on Santa's lap anyway. He whispered in his ear that he wanted the bell that had fallen off the sleigh for Christmas, and Santa raised it in the air. Everyone clapped some more.

"Oliver, this bell represents the spirit of Christmas. But just remember, the true spirit of Christmas lies in your heart." he explained. Oliver climbed down to be with his friends, and they all watched Santa take off on his sleigh. "Merry Christmas!" Santa yelled, leaving the North Pole as everyone waved.

"It's everything I dreamed it would be!" Lilly said.

"Wait, it was only a dream?" Jacob asked.

"No," Oliver told him, smiling. "It's completely real." Jacob and Lilly smiled too, and they all watched the sleigh disappear into the night sky in amazement. The elves threw up their hats.

"All aboard!" the conductor yelled, signaling the kids to get back on the train as the elves started singing and dancing. When they got back on, the conductor finished punching the tickets.

"Lean? What the heck's that supposed to mean?"

"Lean is spelled with four letters, I believe I punched five!"

"Are you saying I don't know how to-oh, it says Learn. My mistake."

"Lesson learned," the conductor said simply as Jackson got on the train.

Jacob stepped up. The conductor gave him back his ticket and whenever he flipped it over it said something new. 'Friendship' 'Rely On' and 'Count on'.

"That's a very special ticket. Can we count on you to get back on the train?"

"Yes sir, me, and my friends," Jacob told him and got on.

Lilly was next. "It says lead. Like lead balloon?"  
"I believe it's also pronounced _lead_, as in lead the way." He made way for her to get on the train, and she did.

Oliver was the last one. "Ah yes, the man with all the questions," said the conductor. He punched in 'believe'.

"It says-" Oliver started, but the conductor stopped him.

"Ah, it's not something I need to know."

Oliver smiled and got back on. Everyone gathered around him to see the bell, but Oliver still had a hole in his pocket and the bell had dropped out. He sadly sat in his seat, the kids all telling him it was Ok.

After a long ride, they were at Jacob's stop. "Hey, where are you going?" Jackson asked.

"Home, this is my stop." Jacob told him.

"Oh, well Merry Christmas."

"Thanks for stopping the train for me," Jacob held out his hand to Oliver, who shook it.

"No problem."

Lilly then came over and hugged Jacob. "Have a wonderful Christmas!" With that, Jacob ran off the train and into his house. He came back out onto his porch holding up the present from the bag earlier that night.

"Look! Santa's been to his house already! Isn't that amazing?" Lilly asked, smiling wide.

"That _is_ amazing!" Oliver agreed, waving to Jacob as the train took off again. Some more kids got off the train until it was Oliver's stop.

"I'm sorry about the bell," Lilly told him. "It was a really special present."

"You know what they say; it's the thought that counts." Jackson said. Oliver just nodded. "Well, see-ya."

"Well, see-ya," Oliver said to Lilly. She pulled him in for a hug. "Maybe I'll see you when I move here."

"Maybe you will," Oliver whispered back, as the conductor smiled at them. "Thank-you," he told the conductor.

"No, thank-you. One thing about trains-it doesn't matter where they're going. What matters is deciding to get on." he wisely told Oliver, who smiled and waved to Lilly one last time. He entered his house.

"Merry Christmas!" the conductor shouted, and the train was gone.

Oliver woke up to his little sister screaming, "Santa's been here! He came!" Oliver grabbed his robe, and noticed the hole was still there. After he and his sister finished opened the presents, they found one more with Oliver's name on it. It was the silver bell that he lost, and it still had the ring. The card said 'found this on the seat of my sleigh. Better fix that hole in your pocket. Mr. C.'

"Oh, what a beautiful bell! Who's it from?" Mrs. Oken asked.

"Santa," Oliver smiled.

Mrs. Oken shook the bell, but heard nothing. "Oh, too bad." Mr. Oken did the same, apologized, and handed it to Oliver. He and his sister just looked at each other, knowing that their parents couldn't hear the bell because they didn't believe.

"And even my sister Sarah stopped hearing it at one point. But I can still hear it. Anyone who truly believes will always hear it." Oliver explained to his friend Miley. She had asked about the first time Lilly and Oliver met, and they decided to tell her the full story.

"Cute story, guys," Miley complimented. "Oliver, you got a real knack for storytelling. I can't believe you guys made all this up just for Christmas! You guys are crazy, but I love ya!" Miley laughed. Oliver and Lilly exchanged looks. They knew she'd never believe them.

Jake was sitting next to Miley, but he wasn't laughing. A long time ago he stopped hearing the bell. He thought the whole Polar Express ride was just a dream. Apparently, he Lilly and Oliver had the same dream.

"Well, I gotta go. Merry Christmas guys! You coming, Jake?" Miley asked her boyfriend as she was on her way out of Oliver's house.

"I'll be right there," Jake told her, and she went on ahead. "Hey, isn't it weird that I had that same dream?" Jake asked.

Lilly nodded. "But it happens all the time. It's creepy, but it's cool."

"Yeah," Jake nodded, still in shock. "Well, merry Christmas," Jake left, confused.

"Oliver, maybe it was just a dream." Lilly said.

"No, Lilly, don't say that. We couldn't all have dreamed that!" Oliver assured her.

"But Oliver, it's so unbelievable! And people really do have the same dreams sometimes."

"Lil, come on. You gotta always believe. Just like you did that night. How else would I have gotten this bell?" Oliver asked, holding it up.

Lilly got up to leave, but Oliver stopped his best friend in the doorway. "Lil, you know you believe. You just don't want people to think you're crazy. Right?"

Lilly nodded, and then looked up, noticing something above them in the doorway. Oliver looked up too, and there, hanging above them, was a mistletoe.

"Was that always there?" Lilly asked, never noticing it before.

Oliver leaned it and kissed his best friend, and she kissed back. He pulled apart and said honestly, "No, that was never there before." He smiled, and he and Lilly shared a hug before she went home.


End file.
